Shadow of Deceit (Shadow #2) (2 page)

Julia and her brother, Miles, exited the lumber mill.  “So, what did you think of him, Julia?”

“He’s very handsome, but what’s wrong with his leg?” she asked.

“I didn’t live here when it happened, but I’d heard it was a farm accident.  But, he is loaded with money and single, just what you wanted me to find for you, right?”

“Yes.  He’s a lot better looking than Conrad Lebold’s son Adam.”

“Wealthier too,” Miles said.  “Remember though, you can’t tell anyone I divulged this information or I’ll lose my job.”

“I promise,” she said.

  “He’s handsome, but his limp bothers me, he walks rather lopsided.  What about his brother, Jonas?  You said he was wealthy too.”

“He married recently,” Miles said. 

“I’ll choose this one, then.  What’s his name again?” Julia asked.

“Caleb Armstrong,” he said.  “I don’t think he is courting anyone.  In fact, I’ve never seen him court anyone since I’ve been in Abilene.”

Julia crossed the street with her arm through the bend her brother’s arm.  “How should I go about meeting him?”

“I could use some lumber to replace my sagging front porch,” Miles said.  “I’ll write what I need and you can order it.  I’m sure they deliver.  Give him my address.  If he delivers, you can be there to sign for it.”

Julia smiled.  “I think I can handle this.” 

Caleb prepared to close the store for the day. The mill sounds had ceased and all the men had gone home.  Even his father had left for the day.  He locked the safe, and cleared the counter of paperwork, when in walked the woman who’d come in earlier with the bank clerk. 

He looked behind her but didn’t see the clerk with her.   She was alone. 

“What can I do for you, miss?”

“I have the order for my brother,” she smiled, and handed him the paper with the order.  Had he imagined that she’d stressed the word
brother
?

When Caleb went to take the paper, he was almost sure she’d purposely brushed his hand.   On second thought, why would an attractive woman like her brush
his
hand?  He must have imagined it. Jonas’s wedding had put his imagination to work, that’s all it was.

Caleb added up the figures.  “Where would you like these delivered?”

“Do you personally make the deliveries?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

“Not as a rule,” he said.  “Only when Ben Johnson is out sick.  He’s our delivery person.” 

“Oh.  That’s fine.  I just wondered,” she said.  “My brother lives on the corner of Main and Cedar, across from the market.”

“I’ll need the money today for a delivery tomorrow,” he said.

“My brother is paying for it, he didn’t give me the money yet.  Could I bring it to you tomorrow and have it delivered the day after, or something?” She’d asked with such a distressed look on her face, that sympathy flooded through him.

Caleb thought her an extremely attractive woman, with her auburn hair and large expressive green eyes.  Her attire was fancier than the women in town usual wore, and she had a fancy hairstyle.  These differences made him curious about her. Or, perhaps she was on her way to someplace fancy, a party or some other classy engagement.

“Are you new to Abilene?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m from Topeka—originally.  I’m visiting my brother, Miles.”  She smiled.  “I may just stay; I like Abilene.  Well, that is—as much as I’ve seen of it.  My brother is too busy to take me on a tour of the area.  I’m quite lost if I step off this street.”

Caleb thought about offering his services, but he held back—because of his limp.  Maybe she hadn’t seen it this morning.  Women often made passes at him—then when they saw him walk, they’d give him a sympathetic look, and then quickly explain why they’d suddenly changed their mind.  It happened too many times.

“I could wait until tomorrow,” Caleb told her.  “In fact, if you come before noon, I might still be able to have Ben deliver it before five.”

“Perfect.” She said.  “I’ll be here early,” she gave him a smile that warmed him. 

She had a smile to match her face, beautiful. In fact, her constant smiles almost seemed as if she were flirting with him.  Well, here goes, thought Caleb.  He limped from behind the counter and to the door and held it open for her.  “I’m closing for the day,” he said.  “I hope to see you tomorrow.”

Without even looking at his leg, and still smiling, she said,  “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She walked out of the door.

She hadn’t grimaced when she’d seen him walk clumsily to the door.  She hadn’t even gasped.  He locked the door and walked to his buggy.  He didn’t realize she was still in front of the lumber mill watching him until he heard her voice.

“Excuse me,” she called, “Is that your buggy?”

Caleb looked at his buggy as if he had been about to jump into the wrong one. After assuring himself it
was
his own buggy, he said, “Yes, it is,”

“It’s beautiful,” she said.  She walked closer to the buggy and ran her palm down the upholstery.  “Very nice.” She used her left hand and he noticed she didn’t wear a ring.  Did she display that hand on purpose?  Then Caleb shook his head to remove the ridiculous notions from his mind.

Caleb smiled back at her. “Thank you.”

“Do you suppose you could drop me off at my brother’s?  I wore the wrong shoes today, and my feet are sore.  It isn’t far,” she said.

“Sure,” he answered.  He was shocked that after seeing him walk she still wanted to be near him. Or, she needed this ride more than he thought.

She hopped in, and he turned the buggy toward her brother’s house, which was just two blocks down the street.  When he pulled up in front of the little gray house, she stepped down from the buggy, and faced him. “Thank you.  By the way, my name is Julia Croft.  And yours is—?”

“Caleb Armstrong,” he said.  “Nice to meet you Julia.”

“See you bright and early tomorrow morning, Caleb,” she said.  Julia turned and walked to the front door of the house, then turned back, and waved.

Caleb drove home wondering what was different today from yesterday.  His limp hadn’t turned off a woman, and she was attractive. Dare he get his hopes up that he’d finally found someone who wasn’t repulsed by his bad leg?

As soon as Caleb arrived home he walked to his private place.  His hobby was woodworking.  He learned a lot from the men in the mill.  He had a workshop built on the back of his barn.  He made furniture, mostly for himself or for Jonas or his father.  He checked to see if the glue was dry on the table he was making for Jonas and Ivy.  He’d hoped to have it finished by their wedding, but then they changed their wedding date from February to New Year’s Eve.  That didn’t leave him enough time to finish the table. 

He also worked on a dog with wheels for his niece, Zoe.  Not that she needed more toys, because she was currently being spoiled by two sets of doting grandparents.

He worked in his shop for several hours before shutting down for the night and heading inside to eat the meal Elsie had left for him, and go to bed.   

In bed that night, every time he shut his eyes he saw Julia Croft smiling at him with her big green eyes that went well with her auburn hair.  She was lovely.  Dare he even hope?

The first customer to walk into the lumber mill in the morning was Julia, wearing one of her provocative smiles, and a striped walking dress that hugged her slim figure perfectly, and a large hat to match her outfit. 

“Good morning, Caleb.  I have the money.”  She handed him an envelope, while displaying another heartwarming smile.

“Good morning,” Caleb replied, admiring her new hairdo.  She’d let her auburn hair down, held back from her face with ivory combs.  Previously she’d worn it in a bun at the back of her head.  Caleb thought her hair was beautiful and longed to touch the tresses.  They were shiny brown with strong red highlights.  He also noticed she wore less make-up and a more practical dress and shoes.

Caleb counted the money and completed the paperwork necessary for the order.  “Well, we’re all set.  I’ll have Ben deliver before five today, although it might be pretty close to that time.  Will you be there to sign for the lumber?”

“Yes, I will.” She bit her lower lip, and seemed to be deep in thought.  Caleb wondered if she was troubled by something.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

“Oh!” she said as if he’d jarred her awake.  “I’m sorry. I just thought of another dilemma. Everything with the purchase is fine.   I- I just wish—”

Caleb raised his eyebrow waiting for her to finish.

“I wish I knew how to get to Grace Church.  I wanted to talk to the minister there.”

“It’s not here on Main Street,” Caleb said.  “You have to go down to Buckeye Road and Broadway, it’s right on the corner.  It’s my church.  You’ll like it.  Reverend Jeffries is a fantastic minister.”

“You know him?” she asked.

“We’re practically related.  His daughter just married my brother, Jonas.”

“Really?” She dug into her reticule.  “My brother wrote out the directions to the church, and I thought I put them in my—”

“Jeffries doesn’t usually have office hours at the church until eleven.  If you would like, I could drive you there.  I’ll take an early lunch break.”

“Your boss won’t mind?” she asked.

Caleb laughed.  “You might say I
am
the boss.  My father and I are joint owners.”

“How impressive,” she said.  “I would be ever so grateful if you could.  In fact, if I might impose a bit further, I’ll buy you lunch at the restaurant over there,” she pointed to Sam’s Eatery.

Caleb hesitated.  He’d want nothing more than to spend more time with Julia, but how would she feel walking in public with him?  He had to accept her offer, just on the chance that it might be his miracle. 

“I’d love to,” he said.

“Good, I’ll be back at eleven, Caleb.”

Sitting across the table from Julia, he’d surely thought this must be what heaven was like.  Every man in the place had turned to look at her when they walked in. 

She must have gone home and changed because now she wore a practical outfit, a red and white-checkered dress with a lace hem and collar under her red woolen cape; a suitable attire for visiting a minister.

“It’s very kind of you to help me, Caleb,” she said.  “Do you know you are the first person I’ve met since moving to Abilene?”  She smiled.  “My first friend.”

Caleb warmed to hear that she considered him a friend.  He said nothing, but returned her smile.

Caleb had hobbled to the restaurant with her on his arm and she hadn’t seemed a bit embarrassed.  He’d finally accepted the fact that his limp didn’t faze her at all.  This gave him the confidence he needed to further the friendship.

“Since we are friends,” he said, “I will offer my services to show you around the area.  How about on Sunday, after church?”

“I’d love that!” she said with enthusiasm.

After lunch Caleb drove her to the church.  Before she alighted his buggy she asked, “Since you know the minister, do you suppose you could introduce me?”

“Of course,” he said.  He then proceeded to walk her into the church and around the foyer to the minister’s office. 

“Caleb!” Hiram Jeffries greeted.  “Come in.”

“Reverend Jeffries, I’d like you to meet Miss Julia Croft.  Julia is new to Abilene and I offered to escort her to meet you.”

Hiram stood.  “I’m pleased to meet you Miss Croft.  Won’t you have a seat?”

Caleb said, “I have to get back to work,” he waved and ducked out.

Julia wasn’t much of a cook, but she threw together a salad and a stew.  She sat down to eat with Miles.

“What no biscuits?” Miles asked.

“I don’t do biscuits,” she said.  “You’re lucky to get a stew that you can eat with a fork and not a spoon.”

“So,” Miles said, “how are you making out with Caleb Armstrong?”

“Your information about Grace Church was accurate.  I got him to drive me there today, and he took me to lunch as well.”

“Good.  Be gentle with him, he’s well-liked around town and he comes from a good family.” Miles said.  “When the time comes, please let him down gently.”

“I’m just hoping he’ll help me financially so I don’t have to actually marry him to get the money.”  She played with her stew.  “It certainly isn’t his looks.  He’s surely handsome.  When we were sitting in the restaurant, and I forgot about his limp, I actually felt something for him. I guess it’s just the romantic in me, but he
is
handsome and his gray eyes seem to sparkle when he smiles.   I promise to let him down gently—if I can.”

“So are you going to attend his church?” Miles asked.

“I’ll try it.  It will put me closer to Caleb.  The minister is a personable man.  I liked him,” she said.  “Have you ever gone to Grace Church?”

“I go every week, at least I have since I saw Violet Jeffries. I am trying to attract his daughter’s attention.  As yet, she hasn’t given me more than a nod though.” Miles pushed his plate away. “Not bad, Jewels, thank you.  It would have been better with biscuits, though.”

“You haven’t called me Jewels in years,” she said as she collected the dishes. “How long have you worked at the bank?”

“Since I was eighteen, when I first came to Abilene, they were hiring.  That was almost six years ago. In fact, my first week there, is when Mr. George Armstrong came in and deposited all that money.  He divided it between himself and his two sons.  I don’t know where he got so much money, but we were all told if we revealed this to anyone we’d be fired.  My boss, Mr. Lebold, said if word got out Armstrong would probably move that money to another bank.”